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Tufted Puffin
last update: Mar 04, 2009 03:17 PM
Latin name: Fratercula cirrhata
Population: approx. 3 million
Cites classified: Least Concern
Where found: North Pacific Ocean from Lower California to Alaska and from Japan to the shores of northeastern Russia.
Age/ life expectancy: 15-20 years
Wingspan: 74 cm
Length: 35 cm
Weight: 750 g
Mating/Breeding: Prefer high, steep areas for nesting. Tall cliffs make for easy take-offs and give newly fledged puffins, assistance in getting up enough airspeed for their first flight.
Eggs: white, 1 egg per clutch
Hibernation: pushed south by advancing ice in winter to the north central Pacific Ocean
Hunting Habits: surface dive
Feed on: fish, squid, other invertebrates
Predators: arctic fox, red fox, Bald eagles, and the Norway rat are the main threats to adult puffins. River otters and mink take eggs and young from their burrows.
Colour/Body: Breeding adults have huge orange bills, legs, and feet, white faces, and long golden feather tufts that curl back from each side of the head. In late summer, they lose their tufts and the bright colors of the bill turn to a dull reddish-brown.
